xiv, 220 p. : 24 cm

Contains primary source material

"Drawing on substantial new research, Red Feminism traces the development of a distinctive Communist strain of American feminism from its troubled beginnings in the 1930s, through its rapid growth in the Congress of American Women during the early years of the Cold War, to its culmination in Communist Party circles of the late 1940s and early 1950s. The author argues persuasively that, despite the devastating effects of anti-Communism and Stalinism on the progressive Left of the 1950s, Communist feminists such as Susan B. Anthony II, Betty Millard, and Eleanor Flexner managed to sustain many important elements of their work into the 1960s, when a new generation took up their cause and built an effective movement for women's liberation. Red Feminism provides a more complex view of the history of the modern women's movement, showing how key Communist activists came to understand gender, sexism, and race as central components of culture, economics, and politics in American society." - Provided by publisher

Includes bibliographical references and index

Introduction: Old left women, the U.S. women's movement, and the legacy of anti-communism -- I. Foundations. Building unity amidst diversity: Ethnicity, race, and gender in the early years of American communism -- The Mary Inman controversy and the (re)construction of the woman question, 1936-1945 -- The congress of American women: Catalyst for progressive feminsim - II. Transformations. Women's work is never done: Communists' evolving approach to the woman question, 1945-1956 -- Claudia Jones and the synthesis of gender, race, and class -- Communist culture and the politicization of personal life -- III. Connections. Old left feminism, the second wave, and beyond

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